Apparatus for emergency communications using dual satellite communications systems for redundancy and a means of providing additional information to rescue services to support emergency response

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for emergency communications using dual satellite communication systems for redundancy and a means of providing additional information to rescue services support emergency response. The system combines the Cospas-Sarsat emergency system for 406 beacons with a secondary means of distress alerting over a commercial satellite system as well as permitting the government agencies responsible for emergency services to directly interface with the person in distress to know about his/her location and to communicate with him or her to resolve the emergency in the best possible way.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/772,799 filed Feb. 21, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,178,601 which claimsbenefit of Provisional Application No. 61/601,139 filed on Feb. 21,2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to emergency communicationdevices and more specifically to an apparatus for emergencycommunications using dual satellite communications systems forredundancy and a means of providing additional information to rescueservices to support emergency response.

Description of Related Art

The Cospas-Sarsat international satellite system has been operationalfor many years and is well known. Its sole purpose is to provideemergency distress alerting capability from an aircraft, vessel orindividual in distress to relevant emergency services, via a one waysatellite communications network. The system employs three types ofemergency locator beacons known as Emergency Locator Transmitters(ELTs), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) andPersonal Locator Beacons (PLBs) all operating in the 406.0 to 406.1 MHzfrequency band. The system is unique in that it is truly global and isrun by various governments for the benefit of all and sends emergencydistress alerts directly to the relevant government authorityresponsible for rescue efforts (e.g. US Coastguard) around the world.The Cospas-Sarsat system provides a one way communications link betweena beacon and one or more Cospas-Sarsat satellites. The Cospas-Sarsatsatellites are in communication with one or more dispatchers who areresponsible for routing a distress signal from a beacon to theappropriate first responders who carry out the rescue efforts.Specifically, the Cospas-Sarsat satellites receive a distress signal androute it one or more receiving and processing stations called LUTs, orlocal user terminals. The LUTs generate distress alert data which isthen communicated to a Mission Control Center (MCC) whereby the MCC thenroutes instructions and information to localized Rescue CoordinationCenters (RCC). The RCCs are then responsible for facilitating thecoordination of the rescue efforts. While the Cospas-Sarsat system iseffective, it is limited in that it only provides for one waycommunication, i.e. from the beacon to the responders, which can causeuneasiness for the person(s) in distress as well as for the responders.

More recently, commercial satellite communication systems utilizing bothone way (remote user to satellite ground station only (e.g. GlobalstarSPOT) or satellite ground station to remote user only (e.g. Sirius XMradio)) and two way communications have become more common and havestarted to be used for both emergency distress alerting and general dayto day communications. These satellite communication systems areparticularly useful in locations where cellular telephone antennascannot be placed and/or where cellular telephone reception is low ornon-existent. Satellite communications systems have been tailored foremergency communications through the adoption and use of SatelliteEmergency Notification Devices (SENDs). Globalstar SPOT is one exampleof a one way version of such a device and the DeLorme InReach device isone example of a two way version of such a device. Typically, asatellite communication system operates by creating a one-way or two-waycommunications link between a satellite telephone or SEND and acommercial communications satellite. The commercial communicationssatellite may comprise the Iridium satellite system already establishedin the art. The communications satellite is further in communicationwith a satellite gateway whereby the gateway is in communication withone or more computer servers. The computer servers typically haveconnects to the internet, cellular telephone systems, or standardland-line telephone systems thereby allowing the satellite phone or SENDuser to communicate with a plurality of other devices by way of aplurality of communications systems. In some instances, the computerservers may in communication with a particularized commercial emergencyresponse call center that carries out specific emergency rescueoperations should the satellite phone or SEND use request them or by thepressing of an “emergency” key on his device.

There are several advantages of SEND devices compared to 406 MHz beaconsin that they permit communications other than pure emergency distressalerting and thus can be used on a regular basis to remain incommunications when outside of an area of cellular phone coverage. Inaddition, SENDs can be used to track and report on the location of theremote person as well through the use of internal GPS receiverstypically found in SENDs. In addition, because SENDs and satellitetelephones permit two-way communications, in an emergency situation someof the satellite devices can provide to the user additional informationon the emergency and rescue efforts and some can even permitcommunication with the person in distress by voice, data, or textmessage.

However, SEND devices also suffer from some disadvantages compared to406 MHz beacons in that they currently have to forward distress alertsto a commercial emergency call center (e.g. a 911 call center) and thiscall center then has to communicate with the relevant emergencyservices. It is then difficult for the relevant emergency services tocommunicate backwards and forwards with the person in distress becausethe system is not cohesively and centrally established for emergency andrescue efforts.

Further still, while both the 406 MHz beacons and SEND systems haveredundancy built into it to allow for outages in parts of the system,each is still dependent upon a single communications system that maybreak down or become unreliable in what can often be a life threateningsituation.

It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementionedproblems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention isdirected. However, in view of the emergency beacons and related systemsin existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious tothose persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how theidentified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The 406-SEND system of the present invention overcomes the disadvantagesof both these systems by combining them together to provide a worldclass distress alerting system over the Cospas-Sarsat satellite networktogether with both a secondary means of distress alerting over acommercial satellite system, as well as permitting the governmentagencies responsible for emergency services to directly interface withthe person in distress to know both the person being rescued's locationand to communicate with the person being rescued to resolve theemergency in the best possible way.

In some embodiments, the present invention is a system for emergencycommunications, comprising a communications device, a first satellitecommunications system, and a second satellite communications system. Thecommunications device is capable of transmitting messages over each ofsaid first and second satellite communications systems and may includeone or more transmitter/receivers to accomplish same. The first andsecond satellite communications systems are in bi-directionalcommunication by way of an interface system, which interface maycomprise a third-party service provider or a passive communicationsnetwork. The first satellite communications system can transmit messagesto the communications device over the second satellite communicationssystem by way of the interface. Accordingly, in some cases the firstsatellite system is only a one-way communications network; therefore theinterface allows the first system to function as a two-waycommunications network by permitting the transmission of messages overthe second communications network.

In some embodiments, the first satellite communications system comprisesa Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and the second satellite communicationssystem comprises a commercial satellite telephone communications system,such as the Iridium satellite telephone network. In some embodiments,communications device includes a Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz transmitter and aSatellite Emergency Notification Device (SEND) transmitter/receiverallowing for redundancy and robust communications from an emergencycommunication device. The communications device may also include aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver which allows for the twosatellite networks and the interface to obtain real-time locationinformation about the communication device.

A method of using the system is also disclosed whereby the methodcomprises the steps of: providing an emergency communications interface;establishing, by said interface, a bi-directional communications linkbetween a first satellite communications system and a second satellitecommunications system; wherein said first and second satellitecommunications systems are capable of communicating with an emergencycommunications device; and wherein said first satellite communicationssystem can transmit messages to said communications device over saidsecond satellite communications system by way of said interface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram depicting one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a flowchart of various functionality of the presentinvention including device operation.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a flow chart that includes distress cancellation.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a schematic of one embodiment of thesystem and method of the present invention. Shown is a user 10 whooperates 406-SEND Device 20. User 10 may be a person under distress ormay simply be a person desirous of communicating via his device 20.406-SEND device 20 includes one or more transmitter/receivers 21 and 22.In some embodiments, receiver 21 is a global positioning system (GPS)receiver that is capable of receiving location information from one ormore GPS satellites 30. In some embodiments, transmitter/receiver 22 isa dual-purpose transmitter/receiver configured to simultaneously and/orselectively communicate over both a 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat system and acommercial satellite communications system. It is appreciated that wherethe Cospas-Sarsat system is only a one-way communication system, thetransmitter/receiver 22 is configured for that one-way communication.Further, transmitter/receiver 22 is configured for two-way communicationby way of a commercial satellite system. In some embodiments, the406-SEND device 20 includes identifiers embedded in thetransmitter/receivers 21 and 22 such that the identity of the 406-SENDdevice 20 can be determined. In some embodiments, the device 20 includesa hexadecimal identification number corresponding to the 406 MHzCospas-Sarsat communication protocol that it is capable of transmittingover. In some embodiments, the device 20 includes an IMEI (InternationalMobile Station Equipment Identity) number corresponding to the SENDcommercial satellite communication protocol that device 20 is capable oftransmitting over.

406-SEND device 20 is configured to selectively communicate by way oftransmitter/receiver 22 to one or more Cospas-Sarsat satellites 40 andone or more commercial satellites 50. Accordingly, in some embodiments,406-SEND device 20 is in communication with Cospas-Sarsat satellite 40which is in turn in communication with one or more local user terminals(LUT) 41. A user 10 may generate a 406 MHz distress signal on his406-SEND device 20 which signal is then relayed first to theCospas-Sarsat satellite 40 and then to the LUT 41. The LUT 41 is thencapable of generating distress alert data which is then communicated toa Mission Control Center (MCC) 42 whereby the MCC 42 then routesinstructions and information to one or more localized RescueCoordination Centers (RCC) 43. The RCCs 43 are then responsible forfacilitating the coordination of the rescue efforts and, in someembodiments, are in communication with local emergency services 44 whocarry out the actual rescue.

On the other hand, in some embodiments, the 406-SEND device 20 is incommunication with one or more commercial satellites 50 which are taskedwith relaying various satellite telephone communications. In someembodiments, the one or more commercial satellites 50 are incommunication with a commercial satellite gateway 51 which functions asa relay point between the ground services (discussed herein) and thesatellites 50. The “ground services” comprise a series of interconnectedcomputer systems including one or more satellite servers 52 which may bein communication with the Internet 53 and further in communication withone or more back end services servers 54 which may also be incommunication with the Internet 55. The back end services servers 54 arecapable of communicating with a plurality of devices which allow two-waycommunication between those devices and the 406-SEND device 20 in thefield. In some embodiments, these devices include: a cellular telephone56 for voice, data, and text services; a personal computing device 57such as a laptop, desktop, or mobile device for voice, data, and text(e-mail) services; and a 406-SEND-specific user interface device 58 forvoice, data, and text services. The foregoing commercial satelliteconfiguration allows for the establishment of a bi-directionalcommunications link between one or more 406-SEND devices 20 and one ormore other devices such as the aforementioned personal computer, mobiledevice, cellular telephone, or 406-SEND interface.

To further enhance the reliability and usefulness of the system andmethod of the present invention, an interface 60 is provided toestablish a communications link between the back end services server 54of the commercial satellite system and the one or more RCCs 43. In someembodiments, the back end services server 54 utilizes its internetconnection 55 to communicate with RCC 43 over interface 60. Theinterface 60 is a specialized and critical component which allows theCospas-Sarsat system to communicate directly with the commercialsatellite system in order to provide a more robust, complete, andintegrated set of communications and emergency services. In someembodiments, interface 60 may comprise an automated communicationsinterface that is established as a joint effort by both theCospas-Sarsat system and the commercial satellite system. In otherembodiments, interface 60 may comprise a discrete third-party serviceprovider whose primary function is to facilitate communications betweenthe Cospas-Sarsat system and the commercial satellite system.Accordingly, interface 60 may comprise either a passive communicationslink or an active communications link between the Cospas-Sarsat systemand the commercial satellite (SEND) system. In some embodiments, the“active” link comprises a service provider employing one or morecomputer networks to provide a robust set of communications services. Insome embodiments, interface 60 functions as an interface to expand theone-way communications capabilities of the already-establishedCospas-Sarsat system to allow for two-way communication thereof by wayof the commercial satellite (SEND) system.

The system and method of the present invention provides severaladvantages over the prior art. Firstly, the dual satellite system(Cospas-Sarsat AND commercial satellite) offers full redundancy byallowing a user 10 to send a distress alert over both systems inparallel. The interface 60 allows for both systems to work in concertwithout overlap of resources or mis-communication. In some embodiments,the system passes 406 MHz distress alerts to the government-run RescueCoordination Centers (RCCs) and permits via a direct interface 60 theSEND data to also be transmitted to that same RCC, together with the406-SEND device's 20 identity to allow the RCC or others to reconcilethe two alerts as one.

Secondly, the Cospas-Sarsat part of system permits the user 10 to employthe government-run free-of-charge global distress alerting system whichis widely acknowledged to be the best in the world, in an seriousemergency while also providing the communication benefits of thecommercial satellite (SEND) part of system, which permits the user tocontact friends, family or other services (e.g. AAA) for communicationspurposes or for help when situation is not necessarily life threatening.The commercial satellite (SEND) part of system permits user 10 to sendand receive messages from friends, family and others on a regularnon-emergency basis as well as during an emergency.

Thirdly, the commercial satellite (SEND) part of system permits user 10to track his/her location and transmit location data over the commercialsatellite system to others. This is particularly useful where interface60 is established because the location information sent over thecommercial satellite system can be relayed to the Cospas-Sarsat systemin the event of an emergency.

Fourthly, the present system allows an RCC or others to communicate withthe person in distress to establish if the person has a real emergencyand what his/her status is in order to better respond to the alert todistress signal. By establishing a link between the RCC and thecommercial satellite (SEND) system, these communication options can befurther enhanced and consolidated.

Fifthly, the combined system also permits a reduction in Cospas-Sarsatfalse alerts by permitting the RCC or others to establish if theemergency is real or not by utilizing the interface 60 between the RCCand the commercial satellite (SEND) system. This functionality is shownin FIGS. 2A and 2B, which is a flow chart described as follows:

406-SEND device 20 is capable of sending SOS/distress alerts on one handand can send and receive messages and location information on the otherhand. If an SOS/distress alert is sent, it is sent both as a 406 MHzalert by way of Cospas-Sarsat and as a commercial satellite alert inthis example by way of the Iridium commercial satellite system. On theone hand, the 406 MHz alert is routed to an MCC and then to an RCC byfirst being received at a LUT. The RCC then determines whether the alertis real or false and, if real, the RCC sends the alert to the relevantsearch and rescue forces for the rescue operations to be carried out. Ifthe alert is determined to be false, the RCC stands down and no rescueoperation is carried out.

On the other hand, an “Iridium alert” is also send over a commercialsatellite system. In some embodiments, interface 60 is configured as adiscrete service provided identified in FIG. 2A as “ACR.” ACR provides alink between the commercial satellite Iridium system and theCospas-Sarsat system. Accordingly, the Iridium alert sent from thedevice 20 is sent to ACR over the Iridium commercial satellite system.ACR then communicates back to the 406-SEND device 20 to confirm whetherthe emergency is real. If the user confirms that the emergency is realor the user does not respond for a predetermined period of time, i.e. 5minutes, ACR then forwards the distress alert to the RCC, by way of itsinterface 60, along with the 406-SEND device's hexadecimalidentification number and IMEI number. The identification numbers allowthe RCC to establish the identity of the device 20. ACR optionally cansend the alert and the RCC details to the user's pre-establishedemergency contacts so that those contacts can become aware of anemergency and can contact the relevant RCC for more details concerningthe emergency.

If the user responds that the emergency is false, then ACR can forward acancellation message to the RCC along with the device's hexadecimalidentification number and IMEI number. Thereafter, the RCC can standdown. Optionally, ACR can furnish the user's emergency contacts withinformation concerning the distress alert whereby the RCC or ACR caninform those contacts that it was a false alarm after establishing same.

In accordance with the foregoing, the user can utilize both the 406 MHzCospas/Sarsat system and a commercial satellite system to send anemergency alert. The interface ACR provides robust cross-communicationbetween the two communication systems and allows for the interactionthereof in order to determine the validity and scope of a givenemergency.

With reference to FIG. 2B, still yet, in some embodiments, the user 10can utilize his 406-SEND device 20 to carry out a variety of messagingand communication features. As shown, the user can utilize thecommercial satellite (SEND) features of the device 20 to composemessages, establish GPS tracking, receive messages, and the like.Communication occurs over the commercial satellite system, in this casethe “Iridium” system. The interface 60, in this case “ACR,” can beutilized as well to provide robust services such as message routing,billing, and information tracking.

The combined system further permits the instigation of a distress cancelfunction with the Cospas-Sarsat 406 system utilizing the SEND distresscancel function and the interface between the two systems. This is shownin FIG. 3A. Here a “distress cancel” function is selected by user 10 onhis 406-SEND device 20. The user is asked to confirm the cancel functionand if he selects yes, the cancellation procedure is initiated. First,the 406 MHz transmission ceases. Next, a distress cancel message is sentover the commercial satellite system (SEND) portion of the 406-SENDdevice, denoted as “Iridium,” to the service provider (interface 60)“ACR.” In some embodiments, this Iridium message is received by one ormore computer servers at ACR. At this point, because ACR has establishedan interface link between the Cospas-Sarsat system and the commercialsatellite system, ACR can forward a cancellation message directly to theRCC of the Cospas-Sarsat system and also send a cancellation message asan e-mail, text message or the like over the commercial satellitesystem. The cancellation message sent to the RCC, in some embodiments,contains the hexadecimal identification number and/or IMEI number of thedevice 20 such that the RCC can identify same. The RCC can thendetermine the next step, such as standing down or contacting ACR backfor more information.

With reference to FIG. 3B, the present invention permits a clearresolution of a rescue to be indicated by transmitting a “rescued”message over the SEND system and using this to end the Cospas-Sarsat 406alert and close the search and rescue case. For example, if user 10sends distress signal, device 20 will continue sending the distresssignal by way of both the Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz system and thecommercial satellite system (SEND) or “Iridium.” The message continuesto be sent substantially as described above with respect to FIGS. 2A and2B. The user 10 thereafter waits for a follow up message from search andrescue (SAR) personnel, who can communicate with the user 10 by way ofthe interface 60 between the Cospas-Sarsat system and the commercialsatellite system. This interface 60 therefore effectively converts theone-way Cospas-Sarsat system into a two-way system by way of thecommercial satellite system. As such, the user 10 can communication backand forth with SAR personnel by way of the Iridium commercial satellitesystem until the rescue has been completed. Upon completion of therescue, the interface 60 can send a “rescued” or “rescue complete”message back to the RCC by way of the Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz system andcan send the same message to various individuals by phone, text, ore-mail over the commercial satellite system (Iridium).

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for emergency communications,comprising: a communications device, a Cospas-Sarsat satellitecommunications system, and a commercial satellite communications system;said communications device capable of transmitting messages over each ofsaid Cospas-Sarsat and said commercial satellite communications systemsincluding information that identifies the user of the communicationdevice; said Cospas-Sarsat satellite communications system incommunication with one or more local user terminals, said one or morelocal user terminals in communication with a mission control center, andsaid mission control center in communication with a rescue coordinationcenter; said commercial satellite communications system in communicationwith a commercial satellite gateway, said commercial satellite gatewayin communication with one or more servers, said servers connected to theInternet; wherein said Cospas-Sarsat satellite communications system andsaid commercial satellite communications systems are in bi-directionalcommunication by way of an interface, said interface interconnectedbetween said one or more servers and said rescue coordination center;wherein said Cospas-Sarsat satellite communications system can transmitmessages to said communications device over said commercial satellitecommunications system by way of said interface, said interface beingprovided by a third party service provider in communication with therescue coordinator center and the internet and the satellitecommunication system.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said commercialsatellite communications system comprises the Iridium satellitecommunications system.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein saidcommunications device includes a Cospas-Sarsat transmitter and aSatellite Emergency Notification Device (SEND) transmitter.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein said communication device further includes aglobal positioning system receiver.
 5. A method for establishing anemergency communications system, comprising: providing a communicationsdevice capable of transmitting messages over a Cospas-Sarsat and acommercial satellite communications system; providing said Cospas-Sarsatsatellite communications system, said Cospas-Sarsat satellitecommunication system in communication with one or more local userterminals, said one or more local user terminals in communication with amission control center, and said mission control center in communicationwith a rescue coordination center; providing said commercial satellitecommunications system, said commercial satellite communications systemin communication with a commercial satellite gateway, said commercialsatellite gateway in communication with one or more servers, saidservers connected to the Internet; establishing, by way of an interfacesystem, a bi-directional communications link between said Cospas-Sarsatcommunication system and said commercial satellite communicationssystem, said interface system provided by a third party serviceprovider, wherein said interface is interconnected between said one ormore servers and said rescue coordination center; and wherein saidCospas-Sarsat satellite communications system can transmit messages tosaid communications device over said commercial satellite communicationssystem by way of said interface third party service provider.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein said commercial satellite communicationssystem comprises the Iridium satellite communications system.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, wherein said emergency communications device includesa Cospas-Sarsat transmitter and a Satellite Emergency NotificationDevice (SEND) transmitter.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein saidcommunication device further includes a global positioning systemreceiver.